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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29817345">I Will Come Running For You (I Don't Care How Far)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyObsessed223/pseuds/OverlyObsessed223'>OverlyObsessed223</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Taste of a Sweeter Life [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Brother-Sister Relationships, Crossover, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pietro Maximoff Goes by Peter, Rescue Missions, Uncle-Nephew Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:28:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29817345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyObsessed223/pseuds/OverlyObsessed223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter comes to a stop, and when he does he hears the sound of four bodies impacting the ground with so much force that bones have to be broken. He turns back to the twins, who are both frozen and looking at him through shocked, wide eyes. For a few moments, nobody moves as Peter stares at them confusedly. Is that really them? </p><p>“Uncle P!” Tommy cries out, and both boys run towards him. Well, that answers one of Peter’s many questions.</p><p>-</p><p>Billy and Tommy Maximoff show up in Peter's reality and tells him their mother was attacked and captured. Peter is the only person who can do something about it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Billy Kaplan &amp; Pietro Maximoff &amp; Tommy Shepherd, Erik Lehnsherr &amp; Pietro Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff &amp; Wanda Maximoff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Taste of a Sweeter Life [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>918</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Netflix Trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay, I'm back lol. I originally wanted to get this entire thing out before Friday, but alas, life said no to that pipe dream. This is obviously a continuation of my previous one-shot in this series, and there might be WandaVision spoilers embedded in both fics. Read at your own risk.</p><p>Onward!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter Maximoff didn’t use to think about things like <em>consequences.  </em></p><p>He’d always been under the impression that consequences could only be given if he got caught—which, until joining the X-Men and coming face to face with stakes larger than stealing from local supermarkets, had always been impossible. Peter was simply too fast to catch, a fact that no doubt frustrated the Washington police department to no end. Everyone knew that when a streetlight got stolen in broad daylight or when items suddenly vanished from shops in the blink of an eye, it was a result of that damned Maximoff kid striking again, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. No normal set of handcuffs can hold him, nobody can chase after him despite them being in their vehicles and him running on foot, nobody could even get video evidence of the petty crimes being committed. </p><p>So each and every time, Peter got off a hundred percent scott free. Hell, he broke a <em> terrorist </em>  out of the fucking  <em> Pentagon </em>, and nobody ever showed up at his door. The government can lock up Magneto, but they can’t lay a single finger on Quicksilver—which did nothing good for his already huge ego, but nonetheless. He had no reason to believe that he was nothing less than untouchable. </p><p>Then, the years begin to pass by, the puzzle starts to come together in his mind. He has no idea why it took him so long to figure out that Magneto, the metal bender, was the man his mother used to talk about. Usually, he’s able to process things as fast as he can run, but it takes him a while, simply because part of him doesn’t want it to be true. </p><p>But it is true—his mother confirms it, and that’s the first time life catches up to him to knock him on his ass. </p><p>No matter how hard he tries, he can’t run from such a revelation, and he spends years with the knowledge that he broke his terrorist father out of the goddamn Pentagon and he had no idea the entire time. He figured it out too late, and Erik vanished off of the face of the Earth, leaving Peter to deal with the very real possibility that he may never properly meet his father. Peter is no longer free from sorrow or frustration, and he feels chained down—never able to break free, no matter how fast he runs. </p><p>When he sees Magneto resurface after almost a decade, Peter knows he has to go after him. His mom knows this, too, but he can tell she believes it’s a bad idea from the get-go. She tells him certain things in life won't leave him unscathed, and this will be one of them, but at the time Peter is too cocky to hear what she’s saying. Surely, this won’t turn out as badly as she thinks it will, because Peter doesn’t <em> care  </em>what Magneto will think when he finds out Peter is his son.</p><p>Oh, how wrong he turns out to be. </p><p>He cares so much about what his father thinks of him, and it ends up fucking him over—big time. He jumped into the fight with Apocalypse because he desperately wanted to prove himself, despite having believed up until then he was untouchable, which turns out to be false because, for the first time in his life,<em>  Peter got caught. </em>  In Apocalypse's hold, he had to watch as the man who contributed to his existence hardly batted an eye when Peter was close to getting his throat slashed. At that moment, the question he’d been wondering for so long is answered—Magneto  <em> is  </em>a bad guy. </p><p>So Peter puts off telling him because he’s tired of getting burned by the people who are supposed to love him most in the world. </p><p>When Peter allows himself to be pulled into Westview, he soon learns that consequences are not always born from incorrect actions. Wanda needed his help, and all Peter wanted to do was help her, if only on Pietro’s behalf. Of course, it was more than that, and he’s glad he went to her, even if maybe he wasn’t what she really wanted. </p><p>When he got back and gave Charles a small snippet of the events that occurred in the reality next door, Charles seemed so certain that eventually, Peter would return to the way he used to be before he disappeared. That soon, the memories of Pietro and the parts of Wanda he has within his brain will fade out of existence. At first, Peter believes him, because why not believe the one person who knows the human mind better than anyone else?</p><p>But as the weeks go on, the memories and feelings don’t go away. This scares Peter a lot, because what if he never goes back to normal? What if the person he used to be has been taken over by an entirely different person. Is he going to be forever haunted by the what if’s of Westview and a man who died in a reality years ago?</p><p>Peter, always perceptive, doesn’t miss the concerned looks he’s getting from the others. He can hear them whispering about him when they think he’s out of earshot, and he can feel when Charles taps into his mind to look around. They don’t understand what happened to him, don’t understand why he’s so <em> different </em>. </p><p>He doesn't mess around as much anymore, for starters. Sure, he’ll quip at people and make sarcastic comments, but he no longer feels a need to show off. He traded in his wardrobe of band t-shirts and his silver leather jackets for darker clothes, and there’s a constant ache inside of him that transforms into bursts of anger and upset. </p><p>It’s not until Charles benches him from a mission does Peter realizes something has to change. </p><p>So he forces himself to lighten up. He puts his old clothes back on, starts using his powers to mess with the others again, puts large effort into being the person everyone can recognize and understand. Peter pretends that the memories of Westview and Wanda are fading when in reality they’re still in his head, present and accounted for at all times. </p><p>Sometimes, it feels like he’s Pietro playing the role of Peter. </p><p>He’s not able to fool everyone, though.</p><p>“His mind is constantly distracted,” Peter hears Charles say to Hank as he eavesdrops outside the Professor’s office. “I’m starting to worry a part of him never left the reality he visited.”</p><p>Well, Peter could have told him <em> that </em>.</p><p>Honestly, Peter doesn’t think they’re being entirely fair. After all, none of them have ever been pulled into an alternate reality where your counterpart has been dead for years. So, he’s a little jumbled—so what? </p><p>It’s just, to be perfectly blunt, for Peter, the grass is greener on the other side. He had a connection with Wanda that he hasn’t ever felt with anyone else. Perhaps that’s just the parts of Pietro that live within him, but regardless, Peter misses her a lot. It would be nice to have a twin, Peter thinks. Not to mention, he got really invested in his role as Uncle P. Now he’s just supposed to forget that ever happened?</p><p>It’s not like he has much going for him on the family front here. He doesn’t talk to his mom that much anymore, and his sister is all grown up and busy with her own life. And then, there’s Erik, who Peter revealed himself as his son to just weeks ago. It didn’t go… badly, per se, but it could have been better, in Peter’s opinion. Erik didn’t seem to be thrilled at the prospect that he’s a father to yet another person, and he left pretty soon after Peter told him. Peter still hasn’t heard from him since, and so now he has to pretend he’s not extremely hurt by that. </p><p>Peter has to do a lot of pretending, these days. </p><p>He wonders what happened to Wanda and the twins. Hopefully, they’re safe and happy, living their lives outside of the Hex, in the real world. He rather misses the little rascals—they were the best part of his Westview visit. </p><p>“You know, my nephew from an alternate reality has super speed too,” Peter casually shares right after another training session, yanking off his goggles and stuffing them into his back pocket. </p><p>“Is he as annoying as you are?” Scott smirks, but he sounds a little too curious to just be making jabs at Peter. </p><p>“Oh, he’s a hellion,” Peter grins as he tugs off the special running shoes that Hank made for him a little while ago. “He’s gonna get into so much trouble one day.”</p><p>It helps ease the pain of losing a nephew he never really had in the first place, and so he figures talking about his alternate self may help the nightmares and the icky feeling inside him go away. </p><p>“My alternate self was an Avenger,” Peter boasts proudly to the team, puffing out his chest for good measure. “Also known as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. We did some cool shit, you know.”</p><p>“Cool! Like vhat?” Kurt inquires eagerly, and Peter stumbles because technically Pietro was only an Avenger for like, a few hours before he tragically died. “Oh, you know, we fought an evil murder bot on a city that was flying in the air. Among other things, of course.”</p><p>“Bullshit,” Scott scoffs, and Peter bets he’s rolling his eyes from under his shades. </p><p>“I’m telling nothing but the truth,” Peter smirks in response. </p><p>But this tactic does nothing to help the memories fade. In fact, it enhances them, makes Peter long for the perfect family he never had. A sister who understands him, two nephews who look up to him. They were just in his reach, but he wasn’t allowed to stay. </p><p>Peter doesn’t have to sleep much, given that he does everything faster than normal people, so he spends a big portion of his nights sat in front of a TV. Before Westview, Peter was only able to watch movies and TV that had a shit ton of action and adventure, but now, he strangely finds himself only wanting to watch sitcoms. What he once would have found boring, he now finds enticing, and he can watch shows about perfect families and friends all night long. </p><p>He’s watching TV right now when he hears the front door open. Perking up, Peter jumps up and dashes over to the front door, just to make sure it’s not anyone dangerous. However, when he sees that it’s Erik who is currently entering through the door, Peter isn’t sure whether to classify him as dangerous or not. </p><p>His heart pounding rapidly in his chest, Peter zooms over back to the couch before Erik ever sees him, training his eyes on the screen and pretending he didn’t hear anything at all. He hears footsteps approach the living room, and Peter almost cringes when the footsteps stop right behind him. He can feel Erik’s eyes on the back of his head, but Peter refuses to be the first one to say anything. </p><p>“Hello, Peter,” Erik says cooly. Peter turns to look at him, trying to school his expression into one of mild surprise. </p><p>“Oh, hey man,” Peter replies before turning back to the TV. “What’re you doing here?”</p><p>“I… I’m here to see Charles,” Erik answers, and Peter doesn’t relish how awkward his father sounds. </p><p>“Cool,” Peter says, only as a formality. He really hopes this conversation ends sooner than later, but then the conversation does end by Erik going upstairs, and suddenly Peter realizes he didn’t want the conversation to end, but it’s too late. How is he always too late?</p><p>Peter’s legs begin to twitch, and suddenly he’s not in the mood to watch TV. He switches the TV off and stands up, pulling on a pair of ratty sneakers he always leaves by the door and dashes outside. The cool night air hits his skin as he starts running laps around the property, briefly slowing down for a moment to put his goggles over his eyes. There, much better. </p><p>Running has always been how he’s let off steam. When he runs, the world almost slows to a halt, allowing himself to be alone with his thoughts for as long as he needs. Every time his feet hit the ground, Peter has the urge to go faster, faster, <em> faster.  </em></p><p>It’s just his luck that he got stuck with an international terrorist for a father—and a deadbeat one, at that. Does Erik even care that Peter’s his son? Would Erik have given more of a shit back when Peter was about to get killed by Apocalypse if he knew he was his son? Or would he have had the same disinterested look in his eyes as he watched on? </p><p>Maybe it’s karma. Perhaps the world finally got sick of Peter’s shit and decided to fuck him over after letting him get away with everything for years and years. Is this what Peter deserves? Hell, maybe it is—he hasn’t exactly spent thirty years being a saint, and the many stolen items in his mother’s basement prove that. </p><p>Still, Peter doesn’t think the punishment fits the crime. He’s going to spend the rest of his life knowing his father is Magneto, the terrorist who wouldn’t give a single rat's ass about Peter if he wasn’t a mutant. How can the world think this is fair?</p><p>Pietro didn’t have that problem. Sure, Peter knows Pietro had his own set of shitty cards handed to him, but at least he had normal parents who loved him and would do anything, even die, to protect their children. Peter thinks it would be better to know he used to have a dead father who loved him rather than have an alive father who couldn’t care less about him. </p><p>“Mom and dad would have really liked it here,” Peter remembers saying to Wanda, that Halloween night when he was still playing the role of Pietro. </p><p>“Yeah,” Wanda had agreed softly, the rims of her eyes turning red. “Yeah, they really would have.”</p><p>Peter’s feet hit the ground harder than ever before as he continues to push himself to run faster and faster so that the entire world around him is completely frozen in time. </p><p>Maybe Peter is tired of playing the role the universe cast him in. He doesn’t want to be the disappointing son of Magneto, he doesn’t want to be the kind of person who always runs when he’s about to get close to someone, he doesn’t want to be so hard to catch. He wants to slow down, to be someone others can rely on, the person who will stay and foster relationships with others, but he can’t because the moment he tries to be that, others get weird about it. </p><p>Peter misses Westview. </p><p>That’s the solid truth. The part of him that is now Pietro lives in Peter’s head, and it won’t go away. He misses being the brother who his sister can trust enough to leave her children with him in his care, he misses being the uncle his nephews can look up to with admiration in their eyes. </p><p>Ever since coming back to his reality, Peter has felt a tugging on his soul, pulling him towards a place Peter can’t reach. He’s been able to ignore it before now, but at this moment, the tugging becomes stronger and envelops his mind. For the first time in Peter’s life, he feels his lungs start to burn, but he pays that no mind. </p><p>As Peter’s mind begins to wander, he stops focusing on running, allowing himself to fall into his memories. Wanda, Pietro, Billy, Tommy. They start to consume him, and the longing is all he can feel. Sparks of blue begin to erupt with each footstep, flying into the air and dissolving. Something begins to yank him forward, and he’s about to fall—</p><p>Peter starts as he comes back to himself, and immediately halts. Unfortunately, he’s not able to completely catch himself, and he trips, sending him tumbling across the grassy lawn. His world jumps back into real-time as his body rolls to a stop, leaving him staring up at the dark night sky on his back. </p><p>“Shit,” Peter groans to himself as he lies there for a few moments, feeling many sparks of pain erupt from multiple parts of his body as a result of his fall. Lifting a hand, he notices multiple scratches beading with blood, and when he presses it to the side of his temple and pulls it back he finds his fingers smeared with red. This is going to leave many nasty bruises—Peter is so going to regret this in training tomorrow. </p><p>As he pushes himself back up onto his feet and limps back to the school, Peter refuses to think about what would have happened if he’d kept running. </p><p>He’s left deep dirt tracks in the grass, something Peter is prepared for Charles to lecture him about later. The soles of his ratty shoes are completely destroyed, worn away by the intense friction—that doesn’t usually happen, but here they are. When he’s inside the school, he reaches down and pulls the sneakers off of his feet, tossing them into a nearby garbage can. </p><p>Most of the students are in bed at this hour, so the building is pretty much void of people. When Peter passes by the kitchen, his eyes flick over to see Hank and Logan sitting at the table, playing cards in their hands as they talk amongst each other. They both look up when he appears, and Hank’s jaw drops in surprise as a result.</p><p>“What the hell happened to you?” Logan asks, removing the cigar from his mouth and letting it hang from his fingers. </p><p>“I tripped,” Peter curtly answers. He continues his trek up to his room, pretending not to notice Logan and Hank exchanging perplexed glances. Peter never trips—he’s always in full control of his feet, and he moves so fast that nothing can ever touch him. Quicksilver is untouchable by mere mortals, right? </p><p>Wrong.</p><p>Erik is still here the next day, which Peter hadn’t expected to happen. Like Peter, Erik has never been one to want to stick around in the same spot for too long, always disappearing faster than he initially appears. Peter must get it from him. </p><p>The longing in Peter’s chest has once again dulled into a slight ache, just like it’s been for the last few weeks. He knows everyone has noticed his plethora of bruises, scratches, and burns on his skin, and so he makes an effort to smile more than usual to keep them from asking too many questions. He can deal with the weird looks, but he isn’t in the mood to explain what exactly tripped him up last night. </p><p>That night, everyone gathers in the living room for movie night—it’s Jean’s turn to pick a movie, and she chooses Uncle Buck. Jean, Scott, Raven, Jubilee, Hank, and multiple of the little students are squished together on the couch, leaving Kurt and Peter to sit on pillows on the floor. Logan has decided to join them, which is a shocker because Logan is always a bit hesitant to participate in group activities, but here he is, sitting in the armchair with his eyes trained on the screen. </p><p>It’s a comedy, and the others are constantly laughing at the many jokes, but Peter isn’t sure he’s finding it as funny as he should. Honestly, he finds it to be kind of on the nose for what he’s been dealing with, and part of him wonders if Jean picked this movie for that exact reason. He watches as Buck develops a relationship with his nephew and nieces, even the moody teenager who initially wanted nothing to do with him. </p><p>But that’s not Peter’s reality. It’s unlikely he’ll ever see his sister and nephews from an alternate reality again, and so he probably needs to let go of such a longing. Peter takes a deep breath and swallows, and it helps the aches inside of him go away. Settling back and relaxing, Peter smiles and joins in laughing with the rest of his friends, because this is his role and he needs to accept that.</p><p>Then, something inside him explodes.</p><p>It’s like fire spreading through him, and he grabs at his chest with a gasp. The sound he makes is drowned out by the group’s laughter, but he’s no longer focusing on the movie and is instead burning holes into the wall in front of him. He would recognize this feeling anywhere, and he immediately knows what this is. </p><p>He can feel Wanda’s magic… it’s close by.</p><p>Someone is calling his name, words Peter can't quite make out, and he’s seeing images that don’t belong to him. He’s in the woods, much shorter than he’s used to being, and there are men dressed in black pointing their guns at him. Terror is all he can feel, but it’s not Peter’s terror, because right now Peter has nothing to be afraid of. </p><p>Then, the terrified face of Tommy Maximoff appears in Peter’s mind, and suddenly that claim isn’t true anymore. </p><p>“Fuck,” Peter curses, and the world around him freezes to a halt just after multiple heads turn to look in his direction. Peter leaps to his feet and <em> runs,  </em>because he refuses to be late this time, not when the life of one of the twins is possibly on the line. He tears through the front door of the school and speeds into the woods, running around through the trees as he desperately searches for any signs of trouble. </p><p>He finds it when he reaches a small clearing deep in the heart of the woods, and his heart drops at the sight in front of him. Billy and Tommy are surrounded by four gunmen, blatant fear on their faces—Wanda is nowhere in sight. They’re alone, and their little faces, so innocent and young, are bruised, scratched, and stained with tears, and Peter feels an uncharacteristic burst of rage spread within him. </p><p>Less than a year ago, in his mom’s basement, Peter watched as the national news reported that Magneto had murdered an entire police squad after they’d shot his wife and daughter. At the time, Peter had been horrified, unable to wrap his brain around such acts of violence. He’s done shitty things in his life, but Peter has always drawn the line at murder, and perhaps that’s part of the reason why he was stunned to figure out Erik is his father. </p><p>But now, as Peter takes in the scene in front of him, for the first time in his life he <em> gets it.  </em>He doesn’t mess around or dawdle as he immediately jumps into action, tearing the gun out of the hands of the man closest to the twins, jumping up and kicking him square in the chest—the man is floating in midair for the moment, but once Peter is finished the dude will hit the ground far away, and hard. He does the same for the other three gunmen, and he finds he doesn’t give the slightest shit about if any of the men survive or not. He hates them for even thinking of hurting his family, as alternate as said family may be. </p><p>Peter comes to a stop, and when he does he hears the sound of four bodies impacting the ground with so much force that bones <em> have </em>  to be broken. He turns back to the twins, who are both frozen and looking at him through shocked, wide eyes. For a few moments, nobody moves as Peter stares at them confusedly. Is that really  <em> them?  </em></p><p>“Uncle P!” Tommy cries out, and both boys run towards him. Well, that answers one of Peter’s many questions. They barrel into him, holding onto him for dear life, and Peter instinctively places a hand on the back of their heads, still concerned other threats might pop up out of the blue and try to harm them. </p><p>He has every intention of questioning the twins about what the hell is going on, and how they’re even here to begin with, but before he can ask Billy and Tommy both start talking so fast and hysterically that even Peter can’t keep up. Perhaps he’d be able to decipher what they’re saying if only one kid was talking, but their voices are blending together as they speak rapidly—and Peter has to wonder if they got that trait from him. (From Pietro, that is.)</p><p>“Hey, hey, hey, slow down, guys,” Peter cuts their rambling off, lowering his hands to rest on each of their shoulders. The twins have tears in their eyes as they peer up at him, their small bodies trembling beneath his fingers. “Try to calm down and tell me what happened—one at a time, yeah?” </p><p>“They took Mom,” Billy sniffs, his voice unsteady and frightened. “We were at home eating dinner and then they burst into the house with all of their guns.” </p><p>Peter’s stomach drops. Now that he knows what to look for, he can feel Wanda’s fear—and she’s not worried for herself. She’s worried for her children. </p><p>But that means she’s still alive, and Peter would prefer it stay that way. </p><p>“Mom sent us through the portal to here right before they could take us, too,” Tommy continues for his twin. </p><p>Peter guesses a few gunmen were able to get through the portal after Tommy and Billy, which was a major mistake on their part. </p><p>They both still look scared out of their minds, and Peter pulls them into a hug. Peter has never been the best at comforting people, never one equipped to deal with emotions, both from others and himself. Yet, here he is, standing in the middle of the woods with two ankle-biters who mean the entire world to Peter, and he feels the overwhelming desire to hold them close and keep them protected at all costs. Maybe that’s why Wanda, out of everyone in the entire universe, sent them to him. </p><p>“Your mom did the right thing,” Peter says to them, swallowing thickly and trying to ignore the tightening feeling in his chest. He keeps his voice steady and calm because that’s what they need from him right now. “You’re safe now, okay? I’ve got you.” </p><p>Peter stands in the middle of the woods, hugging the boys close until it appears they’re beginning to calm down. Deciding he doesn’t want to risk sticking around here much longer, Peter kneels and instructs each twin to grab onto his neck, lifting each of them off the ground at the same time. Sure, he knows they’re ten years old, and they can probably walk by themselves, but Peter has the strength to carry them and he wants to keep them close. With Billy and Tommy firmly in his hold, the world slows down as Peter begins to run, zipping through the trees until he makes it back to the school. </p><p>The trip to retrieve the twins from the clutches of the men in the woods didn’t feel like it took a long time, but as Peter reaches the doors to the front of the school, he finds that the others who chased after him hardly made it out of the front door. Hank and Raven are moving slow, the footsteps they’re on taking longer than an eternity, or maybe Peter’s moving fast—the latter of which is probably the most likely. </p><p>When Peter slows down into a normal walk, he watches Hank and Raven jolt in surprise at his sudden appearance, but even though Hank wants to ask something about the two young boys in Peter’s arms, Peter wordlessly walks past them, stepping through the doors he’d left open in his hasty exit. There’s a crowd of X-Men and students alike in the entrance room, though the crowd splits to allow Peter room. Soon, when he’s standing in the middle of the room, surrounded, he lowers Billy and Tommy to the ground so they can stand on their own. </p><p>Billy and Tommy, despite being rather outgoing children, seem put off by the number of people staring at them. Peter doesn’t blame them, because combined with the facts that their home was just stormed, their mother was captured, and they got thrown into an unfamiliar reality, tonight hasn’t been kind to them at all. Because of this, the twins huddle into Peter, half hiding their faces in the fabric of his t-shirt. </p><p>“Peter, who—” Hank starts to ask as he rounds the crowd to get a good look at the boys, but cuts himself off before he can finish his question. </p><p>Peter glances down at the twins and places a hand on each of their heads. </p><p>“These are my nephews,” Peter announces, and whispers begin to ripple throughout the crowd. “Billy, Tommy—these are the X-Men.”</p><p>It feels good to call them his nephews. He knows that they’re not related by blood (or maybe they are, Peter isn’t sure how this whole multiverse thing works), but he feels like their uncle, and clearly Wanda feels the same way, given she sent them to him for protection. Wanda trusts him like she trusted her brother, and that makes Peter swell with a weird kind of pride. </p><p>Peter doesn’t stick around for Billy and Tommy to be gawked at for any longer and instead leads them through the crowd towards the kitchen. As Peter sits the twins down at the kitchen table, he can faintly hear Raven ordering the students to go to bed, and many groans and complaints seem to follow. Peter moves around the kitchen and goes through the process of making the boys hot chocolate, taking care to walk around the kitchen normally—Billy and Tommy are watching him closely like they’re afraid if they lose sight of him they won’t be able to find them, and they’ll be stuck in a big strange mansion by themselves, completely alone. </p><p>It suddenly strikes Peter, as he pours milk into a saucepan and stirs it around, waiting for it to simmer, that he is entirely responsible for these two kids. Their mother is nowhere in sight, so they’re looking to him to fix their problems, to save them because that’s what he’s supposed to do. To them, that is the role Peter is supposed to play. </p><p>Well, it’s Uncle P to the rescue, then. </p><p>Peter’s making sure to keep a close eye on the twins, especially on Tommy given the kid has super-speed too, but his gaze flicks up to Scott and Hank who are standing in the doorway of the kitchen. </p><p>“Are those really your nephews from another reality?” Hank breathes, and he sounds fascinated, approaching the kitchen table with <em> that  </em>look in his eye. The one that gives him a mad scientist kind of look and Peter knows that for as long as the twins are here, Hank will be studying them as much as he can. </p><p>“Yuh-huh,” Peter confirms as he pulls two mugs down from the cabinets. </p><p>“Wait, so you mean you <em> actually </em>  went to an  <em> alternate reality </em>  last month?” Scott says disbelievingly, and he looks a little pale. Peter gives Scott a look that says  <em> duh, that’s what I told you,  </em>and Scott’s shoulders deflate a tad. “Holy shit, I thought you went on a bender and tripped too many balls.”</p><p>Peter’s not a druggie, and maybe that’s only because his metabolism won’t allow for a normal amount of drugs to do anything to him, but he doesn’t even blame Scott for thinking that. After all, Peter has never been the best influence, which is something he would like to change about himself soon now that the twins are in his care. </p><p>“Drugs are bad,” Peter remarks, giving Billy and Tommy a pointed glance as he pours the warm milk into the mugs, mixing it with the hot chocolate powder. Then, shooting Scott a glare, he adds, “and watch your language around the rascals, would you?”</p><p>He sets the mugs in front of Billy and Tommy, ruffling their hair as they both take a greedy drink of hot chocolate. </p><p>When he was on Wanda’s show, he didn’t have to worry about being responsible, because Billy and Tommy had their parents right there to protect them. He was able to play the role of the fun uncle, the uncle who played video games with them and taught them how to shotgun an entire soda can in one gulp. Sure, he was under Agatha’s possession the entire time, but there were parts that felt glaringly real to him regardless.</p><p>But now, their father is long dead, and their mother is gone too, which leaves Peter to slip into a parental role that’s stable and calm. Biting down on his bottom lip, Peter isn’t exactly sure if he’ll be able to pull it off, given his personality, and the fact that Pietro, while brave and powerful, wasn’t what normal people would call a responsible, well-adjusted adult. </p><p>“How are they even here?” Hank frowns, tearing his eyes away from the twins to look at Peter confusedly. </p><p>Peter doesn’t miss how Billy and Tommy both tense up at the question. </p><p>“Wanda sent them,” Peter explains, and every time he thinks about his alternate sister being in danger his stomach flips like a pancake. “Someone took her, so she sent them to safety.”</p><p>“Uncle P?” Tommy says, and Peter gives him his full attention. “Is our mom gonna be okay?”</p><p>Peter looks away for a moment so neither twin can see the flash of fear that passes through him. </p><p>“Your mom is the toughest woman I’ve ever met,” Peter tells Billy and Tommy finally, and given that he knows many tough women, that’s certainly saying something. “She’ll stop at nothing to get back to you two.”</p><p>After the twins finish their hot chocolates, Peter decides to put them to bed, if only to be able to discuss the situation without them in earshot. His instinct to keep them close has yet to go away, and Peter leads Tommy and Billy up to his room, where they’ll sleep for the night. Peter doesn’t think he’ll be getting much sleep tonight, so they’re free to have it.</p><p>As Peter pushes the door to his room open, he momentarily cringes at what he finds. It’s like his room was decorated by an angsty teenage boy, except Peter isn’t a teenager, but three decades old, so the posters and decor seem childish, and not the look of the responsible figure Peter is supposed to be for his nephews. Despite this, Tommy and Billy’s faces light up when they enter the room after him, and it’s then when Peter realizes maybe the line between responsible uncle and cool uncle doesn’t have to be so black and white. </p><p>With the twins tucked away in Peter’s bed, he joins Charles as the professor kindly searches for Wanda using Cerebro. </p><p>They have no luck, and so Peter finds himself pacing Charles’ office without a clue on how to save Wanda. </p><p>“Surely, there’s a way to hop realities,” Peter muses, mostly to himself as he paces the room. He runs his fingers through his silver hair. “Shit, where the hell is Strange? You’d think he would have noticed by now.”</p><p>“Strange?” Hank raises an eyebrow, having joined them after the unsuccessful search for Wanda’s mind. </p><p>“He’s a wizard guy,” Peter explains quickly, before going back to the initial problem. “Maybe Wanda will send for me again—it worked last time. I can help her out of wherever she is and get her back here for safekeeping.”</p><p>“Peter, you are speaking foolishness,” Erik breaks Peter out of his thoughts, and Peter has to admit he forgot his father was even in the room. “You cannot possibly be considering traveling to a different reality—again.”</p><p>“Of course I am,” Peter furrows his brows as he stops pacing for a moment. “Wanda is in trouble, and her sons need her. If I can find a way to get back over there, I will.”</p><p>He glances around the room, getting a view of Charles, Hank, and Raven’s faces, and realizes none of them look particularly enthused by this plan. </p><p>“What—” Peter sputters frustratedly, his gaze jumping between all of them. “You guys don’t expect me to just sit here and do nothing, right?”</p><p>“Can you really blame us?” Hank says, and Peter thinks yes, he can. “You vanished for days, and when you came back you weren’t yourself for weeks. You were just starting to go back to normal—you shouldn’t risk losing that progress.”</p><p>But what they don’t understand is that Peter isn’t going back to normal, and he might never be back to normal again. Who he is right now very well might be his new normal, a mixture of Peter and Pietro, and right now, Pietro is itching to run into the fight, to save his other half. </p><p>“I have to,” Peter argues, shaking his head. “Wanda needs my help, I can feel her, she’s in trouble and I’m the only one who can save her.”</p><p>“The woman you’re so desperate to save—you hardly know her,” Erik says, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the wall behind Charles’ desk. </p><p>And with that, something inside Peter snaps, and he whirls around to face his father who’s not really his father at all. </p><p>“Wanda was more of a sister to me for a few days than you’ve been a father to me in my entire life,” Peter says angrily, and it takes everyone in the room by surprise. Good. “So you don’t get a say in who I take risks for. Wanda is my family, and I am going to do anything I can to help her, no matter the consequences.”</p><p>“Peter,” Charles breaks the silence, and he looks tired. “We understand your desire to protect your alternate sister, but doing such a thing would be reckless and dangerous. Not to mention, unless Wanda herself does something, there is no way for you to reach her. If you really want to help her, you’ll have to stay here and wait for her to come retrieve her children.” </p><p>Peter has never been one to sit around and wait. Staying put is not something he’s able to do easily, and that time when he had a cast on his leg was agonizing. He’s always desperate to run, to jump into the fight, to do the things others don’t seem to have the balls to do. </p><p>But he begrudgingly agrees with Charles and leaves the office with his fingers twitching, the others remaining behind, likely to talk about him without him. </p><p>Peter turns the corner and catches a glimpse of two little faces peeking through the crack in his bedroom door before they quickly vanish. With a sigh, Peter walks to his room and pushes the door open to find Billy and Tommy standing in his room, Billy looking guilty and Tommy more curious than anything. It’s obvious they were listening to their conversation, and he feels stupid for believing he would have been able to have an adult conversation without them overhearing. </p><p>“Sorry, Uncle P,” Billy whispers, looking up at him nervously as if he’s worried he’ll be in trouble. “We couldn’t sleep.”</p><p>“I can see that,” Peter says, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and beckoning each twin to sit on either side of him. He wraps an arm around both of them, and they both lean into him. They sit there for a moment in silence, as Peter waits for one of them to say something. After all, he’s sure they have a lot of questions. </p><p>“I’m scared, Uncle P,” Tommy admits, swallowing hard as tears begin to prick his eyes. Peter feels his heart break, and he tightens his grip on them. “What if our mom doesn’t come back for us?”</p><p>“What if we never see her again?” Billy adds, peering up at Peter with tear-filled eyes. “What if nobody can help her?”</p><p>Peter doesn’t know what to tell them. He’s never had to deal with an issue with this much gravity before, not on his own at least, so he’s left wandering in the dark. After considering his words for a moment, Peter decides there’s only one thing he can tell them, and it’s the truth. </p><p>“I don’t know,” Peter tells them. “Listen, guys, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But what I do know is that I’m not going to stop until I can give you guys an answer, okay? I’m going to do my best to find her.”</p><p>“But… the professor said there was no way for you to go to her,” Tommy worries, and Peter curses internally that they heard that part. </p><p>“Hey, don’t underestimate your Uncle P, yeah?” Peter squeezes their shoulders as he looks between each twin. “I’m sure there are a lot of things I can do that the professor doesn’t think I’m capable of. I’m stronger than I look.”</p><p>“You <em> are </em> our mom’s brother,” Billy points out with a small smile, and Peter doesn’t bother to correct them. He’ll let Wanda do that when the time comes. </p><p>“Yeah, I am,” Peter says softly, and he feels like he’s speaking on Pietro’s behalf right now. “I’ve got your backs, demon spawn.”</p><p>Peter tucks them into bed again, and this time waits for them to fall asleep before exiting the room. He closes the door gently behind him once he’s standing in the dark hallway, and when the door clicks shut he takes a deep breath and leans his forehead against the door. Those kids are counting on him, Wanda is counting on him, and Peter needs to go to her, just like he went to her weeks ago. </p><p>And he thinks he knows how to do that. </p><p>He turns away from his room and heads downstairs towards the front room. There is nobody in sight, which is a relief because Peter doesn’t need anyone holding him back right now. He steps over the shoe rack by the front door and grabs the special running shoes that Hank made for him, slipping them onto his feet and making sure the laces are tight and secure. </p><p>“Peter? Vhere are you going?”</p><p>Peter looks up to see Kurt standing in front of him, looking slightly confused. </p><p>“I’m just going to run some laps,” Peter says to him, and Kurt nods in understanding. </p><p>Peter exits the building and walks down the front steps towards the lawn. The treads he left in the grass are still here, and he goes to stand in the dirt trail he created days before. Taking a deep breath, Peter puts his goggles over his eyes and gazes at the long stretch of land in front of him. </p><p>Then, he starts to run. Like it always does, the world slows to a near halt, the trees in the distance no longer moving as the wind freezes. Peter works himself, pushes himself to go as fast as he can, whipping around the entirety of Westchester again, again, again. </p><p>That same tugging feeling is back, and once again, it grows stronger as Peter continues to run. He can feel Wanda’s fear and her pain, and the image of Billy and Tommy’s scared, tear-stained faces continue to flash through his mind. The universe starts to tug Peter forward, and instead of stopping, Peter runs even faster until the blue sparks emerging from his footsteps create a cloud of blue, and suddenly he can’t see anything, but he trusts the universe to deliver him to the right place and simply keeps running. </p><p>Peter’s feet, which were once running on grass, hit solid pavement. </p><p>He slows down, and when he does, he regains his vision and realizes he’s in the middle of a big city. Manhattan, his brain supplies, because he’s been here before—or, rather, Pietro has. Peter has to halt abruptly to stop himself from running into anyone on the busy streets, and a few people jump in surprise when he suddenly appears. </p><p>What the hell just happened? Peter stands in the middle of the sidewalk, pushing up his goggles and trying to figure out if he’s still in his own reality. He feels closer to Wanda now, with her magic going crazy inside of him, but he has no way to tell if this is just his normal New York. Peter turns around, and when he does, a beacon of hope catches his eye. </p><p>In the distance, Avengers tower stands tall. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Grease is the Word</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, possible spoilers for WandaVision!</p><p>So! That WandaVision finale, huh? It certainly was something. I can't lie to you guys, the boner joke broke something inside of me—I was disappointed by that part, but that's why we have fanfiction, right? To tell the stories the studios aren't able to give us. I'm so excited to finish this installment to this series, because I have a lot of ideas going forward. Marvel can tear Uncle Peter out of my cold, dead hands. </p><p>Anyway. Lol. Here's the next chapter! I had a super fun time writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, turns out, Avengers tower is no longer Avengers tower at all and is now yet another bland building blending into the New York skyline. Peter probably should have realized this when he failed to see the big glowing “A” that has since been removed, according to the nice but busy receptionist sitting behind the counter in the tower lobby, but in his defense, his mind has sort of been preoccupied with other, more pressing concerns. </p><p>“When the hell did that happen?” Peter scratches his head in confusion. The woman behind the counter seems oddly perplexed by his question. </p><p>“All the way back in 2017, sir,” the receptionist answers slowly as if Peter is a dumbass. This, however, only opens up a new can of worms for Peter, and he grips the edge of the counter hard. </p><p>“Two thousand and <em> what </em>?” Peter gapes at her, because last he checked, it was still 1983. </p><p>“And seventeen,” the receptionist repeats patiently, likely no stranger to interactions like this. She does, after all, work in customer service. “That was the year Mr. Stark sold the tower and relocated the Avengers.”</p><p>Peter takes a moment to process this information, biting his bottom lip and squinting his eyes as he glances out the glass windows at the city street. Now that he has really taken the time to notice, New York does look surprisingly different—there are screens everywhere, and not the small ones like they have back at Xaviar’s school or in his mom’s living room. They’re large and flat and fully in color.</p><p>Not to mention, the cars are sleeker and don’t look like the ones Peter is used to. </p><p>Okay, so there’s reason to believe that not only is he in a different reality, but he’s in a different time period as well. Did Wanda ever tell him what year it was when they were in Westview? He doesn’t think so, Peter doesn’t usually forget information like that. </p><p>“Um, alright, so where are the Avengers located now?” Peter turns back to the receptionist, tilting his head in question. </p><p>“I believe they’re located at a facility about an hour outside of Manhattan,” the receptionist answers helpfully, twisting in her chair to reach down and pull out a small paper map. “Now, the last I heard, I don’t think they offer tours for the public anymore—not after the blip, at least. But I do recommend you take the trip out to look at it from the outside because it’s a mighty fine place to see. My husband and I took our kids last month, it was really cool to see.”</p><p>As the woman continues to talk about her own experience, Peter can only stand there and nod along, but almost nothing that’s coming out of her mouth makes sense to him. What was the “blip”, and why doesn’t the new Avengers facility offer tours anymore? This isn’t the reality from Pietro’s memories, which sucks, because Peter was banking on using Pietro’s memories to get around. </p><p>It’s starting to make Peter wonder what all has changed in this reality since Pietro died.</p><p>Five minutes later, Peter finds himself standing outside the tower that is no longer Avengers tower with a map of New York in his hands, red marker circling the location that Avengers Compound is located. After taking a few seconds to study it, Peter takes off running in that direction, dodging cars and pedestrians that are almost in a standstill as he dashes through the city. At the rate he’s going, he should be at his destination in a few minutes. </p><p>At the moment, he plans to find the Avengers, and enlist their help to find Wanda. He can feel Wanda’s pain and fear inside, and he desperately wants nothing more than to find her right this second, but he has absolutely no leads on what her exact location is. The twins hadn’t known much, only that a bunch of men in black with guns burst into their home and attacked them—Wanda had sent them to safety before they could see much. That’s alright, Peter hadn’t expected to get much information out of his nephews, not when they were distraught as they are. </p><p>For a moment, as he runs, he spares a thought for Billy and Tommy. He feels bad, leaving them at the school, but on the other hand, he knows Westchester is perhaps the safest place they could be. The X-Men will keep them safe while he’s away looking for Wanda, and the twins are very tough kids, what with all they’ve been through in their very short lives. </p><p>After a minute, the buildings start to dissipate as Peter begins running through a grassy plain, and with a quick glance down at his map, he finds he’s almost reached his destination. </p><p>Now, from Pietro’s memories, Peter remembers Avengers tower being grand and, more importantly, <em> busy.  </em>Like a well-oiled machine, heroes and SHIELD agents walked the halls quickly and efficiently. Peter remembers Pietro feeling rather impressed by his singular visit, although he never was the biggest fan of the Avengers due to what happened with his parents. However, Peter also remembers Pietro fighting alongside Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, among many others, so he figures he’ll be able to trust them to help him find Wanda.</p><p>Imagine Peter’s surprise when he reaches Avengers Compound, and everything is… <em> still.  </em></p><p>As in, Peter can’t see a single person or vehicle moving around the building. He stands up on the hill in front of the Compound, looking down at the map to see if maybe he’s at the wrong place. Nope, this is it alright. Peter folds the map up and stuffs it into the pocket of his silver leather jacket, lifting his goggles from his eyes as if they’d been distorting the image in front of him. </p><p>Honestly, Peter would think this place is abandoned if it weren’t for the freshly manicured lawn and the polished windows. As he walks up to the front door of the Compound and pushes the glass doors open, he half expects someone to come up to him and try to stop him, but nobody does. Peter walks into the empty lobby, where there isn’t a single soul in sight.</p><p>Is this where Tony Stark and Steve Rogers live? Maybe Peter could see Rogers living in a place like this, but definitely not Stark. From Pietro’s memories, Peter remembers Stark as a very sociable person, always the first to throw a party and invite the entire city over. For many years, before Stark’s Iron Man days, he was always photographed at numerous events and parties, and those photos always made the news, because Stark was all the world cared about. </p><p>After the bombings in Sokovia, Pietro was always filled with rage when he saw Stark’s picture on television. </p><p>“Hey, asshole, you’ve got five seconds to tell me what you’re doing here before I blast you to smithereens,” Peter hears a voice growl from behind him, and he whips around to see a man with short, choppy hair standing in the middle of the lobby with the largest gun Peter has ever seen. He also has a fucking metal arm, which Peter would think is totally dope if this guy didn’t look like he’s about to kill him. </p><p>Not that the guy would have that chance—Peter could just sidestep the gunshot. It would cause damage to this rather lovely lobby waiting room, though, and Peter thinks that would be a shame. Despite its emptiness, it looks like someone is regularly vacuuming this place, and Peter would hate for that hard work to go to waste. </p><p>“Whoa, whoa, I’m not looking for trouble,” Peter tries to reason, holding his palms up in the air in a show of surrender. The guy with the metal arm doesn’t seem convinced by Peter’s claim. </p><p>“Sure looks like you are, though, buddy,” another voice says in an opposite direction, and Peter snaps his head to the other side to see another man standing with his arms crossed, revealing huge, bulging muscles. He’s wearing a suit that Peter thinks resembles Captain America’s suit, but the only difference is he seems to be wearing a jet pack of some kind. </p><p>Really, though, the only detail of note should be the fact that both of these men seem ready to end Peter by any means necessary. </p><p>“I’m not, I swear man,” Peter rushes to explain himself, hoping this will grant him a meeting with one of the higher Avengers. “Look, my name is Peter Maximoff, I’m a version of Wanda Maximoff’s brother from another reality. I’m looking for the Avengers so they can help me find her; she got captured yesterday.”</p><p>For a moment, all he gets are blank stares from both men. Then—</p><p>“Barnes, blast him,” the man in the red, white, and blue suit says as if it’s an order he gives every Tuesday or something. Peter sighs out of frustration before jumping into his Quicksilver time, running over to the man with the gun and grabbing the weapon out of his hands, then running over to the other side of the lobby before either man can react. </p><p>“What the fuck?” Barnes exclaims when he suddenly finds his gun gone. They both stare at Barnes’ empty hands, and then slowly look up at Peter, who is shifting from foot to foot and waiting for them to hurry up and catch up to him. How can everyone else in the universe stand moving so damn <em> slow?  </em></p><p>Peter quickly lowers the gun to the ground, just to show that he’s not a threat. </p><p>“Who the hell are you?” the second man demands to know as if Peter didn’t <em> just  </em>tell him that. </p><p>“I told you, man, I’m Peter Maximoff, the alternate version of Pietro Maximoff from your universe,” Peter explains again, having to bite back a groan. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to see the Avengers, like, right now. Wanda’s in trouble!”</p><p>Another agonizing moment of silence passes as the men exchange confused glances. </p><p>“Alternate… version?” Barnes repeats, his brows knitting together. </p><p>“Universe?” the other man says with a strange look on his face. </p><p>“How many times do I have to say it?” Peter drags a hand through his messy silver locks. </p><p>Both of them stand and stare wordlessly, and Peter has to guess this is their first time hearing of the multiverse. Which is strange, because he gets the sense that they’re Avengers too, and wouldn’t heroes such as the Avengers have dealt with such a topic before? Surely they’ve been in cahoots with Doctor Strange, right?</p><p>Now that Peter thinks about it, maybe he should have gone to Doctor Strange’s house first, but it’s too late for that. </p><p>Barnes and the other guy have shuffled so that they’re now standing right next to one another. </p><p>“I mean… he looks kind of like Wanda’s brother, right?” the man with a jetpack muses, his chin in his fingers as he studies Peter. “And he has the same power, too. Would we be dumbasses if we believed him?”</p><p>“You’re already a dumbass, Wilson,” Barnes jabs with an eye roll. </p><p>“I guess if Stark was able to figure out time-travel…” Wilson continues, ignoring Barnes’ words. </p><p>Not that Peter isn’t loving this interaction, but he can feel Wanda’s fear and anguish intensifying by the second. </p><p>“Look, believe me or not, I need to talk to Stark, or Rogers,” Peter insists, and despite trying to talk normally, his voice betrays him and cracks in the middle of his sentence. “Wanda needs my help, and I need their help to find her. Where are the Avengers?”</p><p>Barnes and Wilson share yet another glance, but this time it’s less confused and more somber. </p><p>“Man, I don’t know where you’ve been,” Wilson says, uncrossing his arms from his chest. “But the Avengers aren’t really a thing anymore.”</p><p>It’s Peter’s turn to be utterly confused. </p><p>“What?” Peter questions bewilderedly, physically recoiling in shock. How the hell is that possible? From Pietro’s memories, he’d always seen the Avengers as gods, never able to be taken down no matter the threat they’re dealing with. He’d seen Captain America and Iron Man as invincible—so what happened? </p><p>“You really don’t know?” Barnes asks, and Peter shakes his head. </p><p>“I—I’m not from here,” Peter tells them, and for the first time, they seem to be buying his story. “I only have Pietro’s memories up until he died, which I think happened a while ago.”</p><p>For a few moments, they all stand in the middle of the empty Avengers Compound lobby, drinking in the revelations that have just been dropped. </p><p>“Did you say your name is Peter?” Wilson tentatively asks, and Peter nods his head yes in confirmation. “Alright. I’m Sam Wilson, this is Bucky Barnes. We should probably catch each other up.”</p><p>As much as Peter wants to disregard everything and dive right into finding Wanda, the longer he spends in this reality, the more he realizes he has no idea what’s going on here, and that’s hindering his ability to communicate with the people he needs assistance from. Therefore, he follows Wilson and Barnes upstairs to a conference room with glass walls, sits down, and has a nice chat. </p><p>Wilson and Barnes fill Peter in first. They tell him that five years ago, a mad titan named Thanos found the infinity stones of the universe and snapped his fingers, killing half the entire universe at once. Eventually, after five years, the Avengers found a way to time travel and get the stones to snap everyone back, but the final fight didn’t come without casualties—Black Widow sacrificed herself on Vormir, and Stark snapped his fingers to bring back the blipped half of the universe, killing himself in the process. </p><p>“Really?” Peter says in surprise once Wilson tells him about Stark’s sacrifice. “Wow. I just… Pietro never pegged Stark to be someone to make a sacrifice like that.”</p><p>Neither Wilson nor Barnes seems shocked by his observation. </p><p>“We didn’t either,” Barnes admits, glancing down at his metal hand. Peter has to remember to ask him about the arm after he gets Wanda home safe and sound. </p><p>“So, long story short, we don’t have much of a team anymore,” Wilson continues. “Rogers went back in time to spend the rest of his life with his lady friend, Thor left Earth for more space adventures, and Bruce and Clint are retired and both live in the middle of nowhere. The wizard guy, Strange, drops by sometimes, but I think he’s busy guarding his house or something. Wanda… well, we tried to get a hold of Wanda, but she disappeared. We never could find out where she went, so it’s just Barnes and I holding down the fort."</p><p>And that’s Peter’s queue. </p><p>He tells Wilson and Barnes about what went down in Westview, and as he goes further into the story, their eyes get wider and wider in disbelief. He tells them about how Wanda pulled him into her reality to be a guest star on her fake sitcom TV show (Peter makes sure to tell them he went into the portal willingly, though), and describes how he was instantly recast as her dead brother to be Uncle P to her twin boys. He tells them about the downfall of the Hex, and how Vision died along with it, but the boys were luckily able to stay with Wanda—with no help from Agatha or Hayward, who both tried to kill them all. </p><p>“I think,” Wilson mutters as Peter finishes his tale, “that your story was way more interesting than mine.”</p><p>Peter can understand that—life on a TV screen almost always seems better than the real world. </p><p>“Wanda has two kids?” Barnes asks confusedly, seeming half lost. “Where are they, then?”</p><p>“Billy and Tommy are in my reality,” Peter answers, and his mind once again flashes to the wellbeing of his nephews. “They’re safe, but Wanda isn’t, so I need your help finding her.”</p><p>That kicks Wilson and Barnes into gear, finally. Wilson suggests they go upstairs to the main computer to search for Wanda using facial recognition, to which Peter asks what facial recognition is and how the hell a simple computer can do that. Then, Barnes says something about how he was born in 1917 and was frozen for decades before being discovered, so he understands Peter’s confusion, which is nice for Peter to hear. Also, he can’t wait to sit down with Barnes for drinks and prod the soldier for any story he’s willing to tell. </p><p>Peter follows Wilson and Barnes down a hall on another floor, where there are more rooms with glass walls. On their journey, Peter doesn’t see a single person, so he concludes that they’re the only three people here. However, because of this quick conclusion, he’s thrown for a loop when they pass by a room that looks something like Hank’s lab and sees a young kid standing at a workstation by himself, fiddling with chemicals. The kid doesn’t look a day over sixteen, and yet he’s in there all by himself. </p><p>“That’s Parker,” Wilson explains, having noticed Peter’s confused expression. His voice is lower than usual, probably because he doesn’t want the kid to hear him. “He’s Spider-man.” Wilson pauses, a slightly troubled look flashing across his face. “Actually, I probably wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”</p><p>“What the hell does it matter now, Sam?” Barnes mutters, and when Peter glances over at him he notices a spark of anger in the soldier’s eyes. </p><p>“Yeah, I guess,” Wilson sighs as they keep walking. The kid, Parker, glances up at them just as the three of them are almost out of sight. </p><p>“Why is he…?” Peter isn’t sure exactly what to ask, so he simply trails off. Luckily, Wilson seems to know what he’s trying to get at. </p><p>“Parker got roped into some pretty dangerous shit when he was on a school field trip,” Wilson explains, and even though they’re out of Parker’s earshot, he still keeps his voice low. “He got manipulated by this evil asshole, who then revealed his secret identity to the entire world.”</p><p>“I still can’t believe SHIELD didn’t call us, or Strange,” Barnes says, and Wilson nods in agreement. “They’re wack, relying on high schoolers for that kind of shit.”</p><p>“Anyways, we found the kid on the run about a few weeks ago, and he was in pretty bad shape,” Wilson recalls with a wince. “He had major trust issues on top of everything. We took him in, and he’s been sticking around here ever since then. He can be a whiney pain in the ass sometimes, but he’s an okay kid.”</p><p>It reminds Peter of every young child that comes to the school because they’re on the run or in some kind of danger. Peter has always counted his lucky stars that his mother was understanding and willing to protect him, even with all the trouble he got himself into. Now, Peter hopes he can be that person for Billy and Tommy. </p><p>The main computer room is a sight Peter could never have even dreamed up. There are screens <em> everywhere.  </em>Peter stands in the middle of the room in awe, not wanting to touch anything and end up breaking something, while Wilson approaches the computer and starts typing quickly on the keyboard. </p><p>“Do you even know how to do this?” Barnes questions Wilson from where he’s standing next to Peter. </p><p>“It’s just facial recognition software, not a goddamn spaceship,” Wilson snaps, but he doesn’t sound upset with Barnes. As far as Peter can tell, this is just how they communicate with one another. </p><p>“You sure I shouldn’t go grab Parker to do this?” Barnes smirks, clearly poking a bear. </p><p>“Like hell you should, asswipe.”</p><p>In the end, Wilson gets the facial recognition software going, but not without the disclaimer that the search for Wanda could take a bit of time. Peter grits his teeth when he learns this, bouncing back on his heels as he watches the computer search, faces that aren’t Wanda’s flashing across the screen. Peter’s spent his entire life waiting for things to happen, simply because everything in the universe moves so much slower than him, but he’s never had a wait that felt as agonizing as this one does. </p><p>Peter isn’t sure how long Wanda can wait for him to catch up to her. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>In hindsight, Hank realizes the next morning, it was probably not the best idea to leave Peter alone last night, especially not when he had that spark of ambition in his eye. </p><p>Although attempting to keep Peter from leaving might have been a fruitless endeavor—it’s not like anyone has ever been able to stop him from doing something he wants to do. It’s easy to see that the kid has a complex or something along the lines of it, and it’s not difficult to understand why. Peter has a very useful, handy power, and so he’s probably come to the conclusion that he’s invincible, able to be touched by no one, but Hank isn’t quite so sure he believes that. </p><p>Right now, however, Hank has himself hoping that Peter is, in fact, invincible, because sometime in the night Peter disappeared without a trace. </p><p>Actually, that’s not exactly true. Earlier, Hank looked out one of the windows and was taken aback to see huge dirt trails implanted into the perfectly manicured lawn. He’s seen that kind of thing before when he was testing Peter’s speed levels last month, but Peter has never left behind a wake that deep before—not even close. Peter would have to be running at a speed Hank has never seen the guy run before, which would have to be pretty damn fast. </p><p>The most suspicious part of all this, though, is that Charles is unable to locate him on Cerebro, a fact Erik doesn’t seem to be taking too well. </p><p>“That cannot be possible,” Erik grits out as he and Hank stand behind Charles, who has already searched each corner of the universe for Peter. “Look again, Charles.”</p><p>“Erik, I’ve already looked <em> three times </em>,” Charles sighs, giving Erik a grim look. </p><p>“Maybe he’s just too fast for you to locate?” Hank suggests. Really, he’s trying to do everything he can to keep Erik from exploding and taking down the school in his rage—a path the man does seem to be on if Hank is being honest. </p><p>“No, because I’ve located him on Cerebro in the past,” Charles explains, lifting the helmet from his head and placing it back onto its stand. He leans back in his wheelchair and stares at the wall, clearly thinking. </p><p>“A person doesn’t just vanish into thin air, Charles,” Erik argues, and that’s when it hits Hank. He looks at Charles, who has straightened up considerably, and they share a knowing glance. </p><p>“Peter did,” Charles says. “About a month ago, he went into a portal and disappeared for days.” </p><p>The blood drains from Erik’s face at the realization. </p><p>They stand in a heavy, uncomfortable silence as the implication reaches their minds. Now, looking back, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Peter would rather have picked up and left for the alternate reality he’d been sucked into—Hank isn’t blind, he’d seen the yearning look in Peter’s eyes that never actually went away even as time progressed. Peter was always the fun, light-hearted friend, one they could always count on to lift their spirits and hopes, but it was like that version of Peter never came back. Instead, in his place, was a man who, for the first time in his life, had gained something and then lost it. </p><p>Hank didn’t see the old version of Peter come back until last night when he walked into the mansion with his nephews in his arms. He’d been worried and concerned for Wanda, of course, but nobody with eyes could miss the fact that Peter clearly felt at ease around the small boys. For the first time in a long time, Peter looked… happy. </p><p>The very real possibility that Peter decided to leave them behind for an alternate version of his family causes a strike of sadness to pierce Hank’s heart because he really liked Peter—he was a cool guy for sure.</p><p>“Charles—” Erik has gone as white as a sheet, and Hank doesn’t envy the position Magneto is in for sure. Look, Hank doesn’t particularly enjoy Erik’s presence, but he certainly doesn’t think the metal bender deserves the shit he’s been put through. Hank just has to hope that losing Peter isn’t Erik’s last straw. “We have to find him, Charles, I will not allow—”</p><p>“I know, old friend,” Charles says sympathetically, placing a hand on Erik’s arm. “We will, of course, do our best to get him back, but as I told Peter last night, there isn’t much I can do. No one in this universe has the ability to jump through realities.”</p><p>Hank thinks back to the trails of dirt in the lawn and wonders if that particular fact is true. </p><p>“And…” Charles sighs again. “If it so happens that Peter is happier with his… other family, perhaps we should learn to respect that, Erik.”</p><p>Hank tenses, eyeing Erik as he braces for impact. He expects Erik to at least make the walls shake, but a moment comes and goes and nothing happens. Instead, Erik nods his head glumly, and it’s weird seeing him this worn out and lost. </p><p>“We should go downstairs and let the others know of Peter’s absence,” Charles says.</p><p>Hank and Erik follow Charles downstairs to the main level, but they both almost run into his wheelchair when Charles abruptly stops moving. Hank frowns worriedly, looking down at his friend, and finds that Charles’ face is twisted in concentration. Then, he gasps. </p><p>“My goodness,” Charles breathes, and then takes off down the kitchen, leaving Hank and Erik to exchange confused glances. </p><p>Then, Hank follows Charles into the kitchen and everything starts to make all the sense and none of it at the same time. </p><p>The twin boys Peter brought home yesterday, his nephews, are in the kitchen by themselves. Billy is seated at the table, his hands folded together as he politely sits still—his eyes scan Hank as he walks in with the others, and he shifts uncomfortably as a result. Tommy, the other boy, is not sitting with his brother at the table and is instead standing on a stool in front of the sink, reaching up towards the cabinet with the sugary cereal with his little arm. At first, Tommy doesn’t notice them like Billy did, deep in concentration with his tongue poking out of his mouth as he tries to reach the cereal, but Billy makes a little noise and Tommy’s head snaps over to look at the adults. His eyes go wide, and he instantly gives up his cause, running over to sit next to his brother in the blink of an eye. </p><p>“Those are… the nephews, correct?” Erik asks tentatively, and Charles and Hank nod their heads. </p><p>“Wherever Peter went, he left them here,” Charles says thoughtfully, and such a fact is certainly worth making a note of. Hank remembers the love shining in Peter's eyes as he made the twins hot chocolate and ruffled their hair, and he instantly knows that Peter would <em> never  </em>leave them behind. “So either Peter didn’t leave willingly… or he’s planning on coming back.”</p><p>Judging on the state of the lawn, Hank has to guess it’s the second option—though, maybe he’s just trying to be hopeful that his friend intends on returning. </p><p>The twins are still gazing at them through curious eyes. Knowing how important these kids are to Peter, Hank reaches up and grabs a box of sugary cereal, having to hide a smile when he sees Billy and Tommy’s faces light up. Hank fixes them rather generous bowls of cereal, figuring they must be hungry. As soon as the bowls are placed in front of them, they both dig in, with Tommy eating way faster than Billy—the young speedster really reminds Hank of Peter, and given the fond expression on Charles’ face, the professor likely is having the same thought. </p><p>“Billy, Tommy,” Charles begins, wheeling himself up to the table as they continue to eat. “I am Charles Xaviar, a good friend of your… Uncle P. Did he happen to say where he was going last night?”</p><p>Billy and Tommy both grin at the mention of Peter. </p><p>“Uncle P went to get Mom,” Tommy tells them, and his chest is puffed with pride as he does. </p><p>“Surely, your mother must have summoned him,” Erik says, but both boys shake their heads confidently. </p><p>“I would have felt Mom’s magic,” Billy explains, setting his spoon back down into his bowl. “Uncle P had to go to her.”</p><p>The adults fall into an uneasy silence as the boys return to their cereal. </p><p>“I… I’m not sure Peter is capable of such a power,” Charles’ brows knit together, but Billy and Tommy give each other smug looks. </p><p>“Uncle P said you’d say that,” Billy calmly states, tilting his head, and Charles’ eyes widen by a fraction. </p><p>“And besides, Uncle P is a <em> Maximoff </em>,” Tommy smirks, his bowl now empty. Hank grabs the box off of the counter and refills the bowl for the kid. “Maximoff’s can do anything, don’t you know?”</p><p>It’s interesting, Hank thinks, that these kids consider Peter as a part of their family now. </p><p>Maybe they lost Peter from the moment he went into that portal.</p><p>Maybe the Peter they know is never coming back. </p><p>“For Peter’s sake,” Charles says quietly, “I do hope you are correct, Tommy.”</p><p>Billy and Tommy look nothing less than confident as they go back to their cereal.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Peter thought computers would be faster in the future. </p><p>The room is beginning to dim as the minutes go by and the sun begins to set behind the trees around Avengers Compound. Peter bounces his knees up and down, and he’s starting to consider going outside to run some laps just to give himself something to do. On the computer screen in front of him, the software is still flashing through cameras and faces as it searches the entire world for Wanda. </p><p>He’s sitting alone in the computer room—Wilson and Barnes left half an hour ago to go pick up dinner, leaving Peter by himself with the computer, his thoughts, and Wanda’s fear thrashing inside his soul. Peter groans out loud, lowering his head onto the cool surface of the counter he’s sitting in front of. How is this taking so long?</p><p>“It’s still searching?” </p><p>Peter snaps his head up in surprise, and twists in his chair towards the entrance to the room to see who the unfamiliar voice belongs to. His eyes land on the kid from the labs earlier, Parker, who is standing in the doorway, his eyes trained not on Peter, but the screen behind Peter. </p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Peter says, pushing a few strands of silver hair out of his eyes. “Any idea why it’s taking so long? I thought the future is supposed to be… well, faster than this.”</p><p>“A lot of the time, it <em> is </em> faster than this,” Parker admits as he enters the room, moving to sit in the chair next to Peter. Up close, he looks even younger than Peter had previously thought he’d looked from far away. His eyes, though big and curious, are guarded, and there’s the faintest ring of bruises around his eyes as if crying is a regular activity for him. “But Wanda’s always been harder to find.”</p><p>The more Peter thinks about that, the more he realizes how much that sounds like Erik. </p><p>He guesses being difficult to find and catch must run in the family. </p><p>“Not that I knew Wanda that well, personally,” Parker rushes to elaborate, glancing away from the computer screen to look at Peter. “We haven’t gotten the chance to really get to know each other. All I know about her is from Mr. St—from Wilson and Vision.”</p><p>Peter doesn’t miss how Parker seems to stumble over a name, but he doesn’t pry. He remembers Wilson telling him that Parker has trust issues, and Peter doesn’t want to add to that. </p><p>“I guess I don’t know her that well, either,” Peter admits, looking down at his hands, which he’s been drumming lightly against the surface of the table for this entire conversation. “I only met her, like, a month ago. Everything else is from Pietro’s memories.”</p><p>“Wilson told me you’re from the multiverse,” Parker says, and he sounds so damn fascinated that it reminds Peter of Hank. “Is the multiverse really a real thing?”</p><p>“Uh, yeah, man,” Peter nods his head, and Parker’s eyes widen. “I’m proof of it, I guess.”</p><p>“So maybe not everything Beck told me was a lie,” Parker murmurs, before shaking his head, likely to get rid of whatever is in his head. Then, the kid sticks out his hand. “By the way, I’m Peter Parker. I’m from Queens.”</p><p>“I’m Peter Maximoff,” Peter cracks a smile, taking his hand and shaking it good-naturedly. “From just outside of DC.”</p><p>“Wow, I can’t believe there’s so many of us named Peter,” Parker grins excitedly, and when Peter frowns confusedly, he continues, “there’s also Peter Quill, he’s from Earth but he got taken into outer space when he was young. He fought against Thanos with us—he’s a pretty cool guy, even though he thought Footloose was the greatest movie in history.”</p><p>“Footloose? Shit, in my reality that movie was in theaters a few months ago,” Peter says, remembering the time the professor rented out a movie theater on a Saturday and the whole school went to go watch it. “It was alright… but would I call it the greatest movie in history? Probably not.”</p><p>“Yeah, I had to tell him it never was,” Parker recalls fondly, leaning back in his chair. “Quill’s cool, though. I wish he hadn’t left so soon after the funeral.”</p><p>At Parker’s mention of a funeral, Peter notices the mood in the room dampen considerably. Before either of them can say anything, though, the computer starts making a beeping noise. Peter jumps up out of his seat and Parker follows suit, grabbing the keyboard and rapidly typing on it. </p><p>“It found a match,” Parker says, and a video pops up on the screen. The air leaves Peter’s lungs as he gets a good look at some men dressed in all black hauling Wanda out of a car and forcing her into what looks like an abandoned warehouse. There’s a moment when Wanda looks right at the camera, and her eyes are bright red as if she’s trying desperately to use her magic but she can’t reach it. “Looks like they’re keeping her somewhere on the edge of Queens.”</p><p>Wanda disappears, but another familiar face exits the car after her. </p><p>“Hey, I know that guy!” Peter exclaims, and he feels himself bristle. “He’s the asshole who tried to kill Billy and Tommy—his name is Hayward.”</p><p>“Alright,” another voice says, and Peter turns to see Wilson and Barnes standing in the doorway, bags of Chinese takeout in their hands. “I guess we’ll be eating on the go tonight.”</p><p>In the span of a single second, Peter pulls on his silver jacket, grabs his Walkman, and puts his goggles up on his head, ready to pull them down over his eyes at a moment's notice. </p><p>“I’m ready when you guys are,” Peter says, checking his watch. </p><p>They take a lot longer than Peter did to suit up, though. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Peter has to be honest, the Avengers Quinjet is way cooler than the jet Hank has sitting in his garage. </p><p>“So, what the hell does this Hayward guy want with Wanda?” Wilson asks from where he’s sitting in the pilot’s seat. Since the jet is moving steadily, Peter is standing behind Wilson’s seat, tossing a random tennis ball up and down into the air to keep his mind trained and focused. </p><p>“I’m not sure,” Peter frowns. He throws the ball up in the air, runs over to the other side to grab a water bottle out of the cooler and drink it all in one go, and then runs back just in time to catch the ball before it hits the ground. “Actually, I thought he was supposed to be locked up, so I dunno how he even got out.”</p><p>“Not a big surprise,” Barnes says from the seat next to Wilson’s. “The government has always favored people like Hayward. The fact that they even locked him up in the first place is crazy.”</p><p>“Well, when we get through with him, he’s gonna wish he was still in prison,” Wilson says, reaching up and flipping some switches as the jet begins to lower towards the ground. “Going into stealth mode, so they shouldn’t see us coming.”</p><p>Wilson lands the jet like a pro, though Peter does have to say that Hank does landings with slightly less turbulence. </p><p>“Alright,” Wilson says as he throws his shield onto his back. “The plan is to break in, kick their asses, grab Wanda, and get out in time before that frozen yogurt place down the block closes for the night. Parker, stick close to Barnes. We’ll do the heavy lifting so Peter can run and find Wanda.” </p><p>“Aye aye,” Parker salutes Wilson. Look, Peter is aware that they’ve said that the Avengers aren’t a thing anymore, but Wilson makes for a great leader regardless. It’s no wonder Steve decided to pass the shield down to him. </p><p>Peter places his goggles over his eyes, and Barnes cocks his gun. </p><p>It’s go time. </p><p>The front gates that lead to the warehouse Wanda’s being kept at are currently being guarded by two men with guns, and Peter is able to run and knock them both unconscious in the blink of an eye. </p><p>“That’s so cool, man,” Parker breathes in awe from where he, Barnes, and Wilson are waiting for the all-clear from Peter. Peter waves them over and they jog over to the front gates, which are immediately kicked open by Barnes. “Hey, can you walk on water like Jesus?”</p><p>“Not the time, kid,” Wilson reminds Parker, tapping the kid on the shoulder with gloved knuckles. Then, Wilson pauses. “Wait, can you?”</p><p>“I’ve been running on water since I was thirteen,” Peter answers with a wink. </p><p>“Whoa,” Parker says, his eyes as round as saucers. </p><p>“That’s dope,” Wilson says. </p><p>“Hey,” Barnes calls to get their attention from the other side of the now open gate. “Frozen yogurt place closes in an hour.”</p><p>“Right,” Parker nods, and they all follow after Barnes. </p><p>So, now that he’s here, Peter finds that there’s one major difference between the X-Men and Wilson’s Avengers—the X-Men never go in without a plan. Raven and Hank never allow any of them to run straight into trouble, and Peter has to guess that has something to do with their old teammates, who died a long time ago. Raven and Hank are both really smart, so it never takes them long to come up with a plan, but every time the X-Men go on a mission, Peter has to stand and wait for what feels like an eternity, when he could just dive right on into the mission and get it over with. </p><p>So when Wilson and Barnes burst through the front doors of the warehouse and immediately start kicking ass, Peter is overjoyed by the speediness of this process. </p><p>He thinks it has to do with the frozen yogurt. </p><p>In the fraction of a second before everyone leaps into action, Peter takes time to study the layout of the warehouse. There’s a long hall at the end of the room that splits off, and Peter would bet money that it will lead him to Wanda. So as Wilson, Barnes, and Parker jump into battle, Peter plugs his earphones in and quickly turns on Grease by Frankie Valli—what can he say? The Footloose talk from earlier reminded him of his love for certain show tunes. </p><p>Then, with music playing in his ears, Peter takes off down the hall, knocking over gunmen like bowling pins as he runs. He busts through every single door, but Wanda is in none of them, unfortunately, so Peter takes out all of the gunmen in each room before they can blink and leaves as fast as he came. When he reaches the end of the hall, he pushes open the door to the last room—knocking a gunman back on his ass as he does—and finds a staircase that goes down for… well, for a long time. </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Peter starts descending the stairs, taking out multiple gunmen on his way down. He’s moving so fast that they’re practically standing still, giving Peter the chance to push them down and jam their weapons against the walls, hopefully rendering them useless. So far, he’s crushing it here, and with a cheerful whoop, Peter runs and jumps onto the stair rail, riding it several flights down. </p><p>The bottom floor has hardly any lights on and is shrouded in darkness, casting shadows everywhere. Peter narrows his eyes as he adjusts to the change, taking out his earbuds so he’s able to stay alert. This floor, surprisingly, is empty, although that’s likely due to the fact that most of them are on the main floor fighting the Avengers, and the rest are knocked unconscious, their bodies littered on the many flights of stairs and down the hall. </p><p>This makes it easy to find Wanda. Peter quickly locates her in a dark room at the end of the hall, and when he peeks through the tiny window on the door, he can see Wanda sitting against the back wall on the floor, her eyes closed and her wrists bound with metal cuffs. There’s blood running down her face, and parts of her arms look bruised and discolored. Despite this, she’s still breathing, and Peter hurries to find a badge to swipe against the lock. </p><p>“Wanda!” Peter exclaims when he’s finally able to throw the door to Wanda’s cell open, making a conscious effort to keep the volume of his voice down. Wanda’s eyes fly open, and she blinks at him in confusion. </p><p>“Peter?” Wanda whispers as Peter appears in front of her in a flash, taking her wrists into his hands and studying the metal cuffs. They must be blocking her powers—he’s seen this kind of technology back in his own reality. “I—what on Earth? What are you doing here?”</p><p>“I’m rescuing you,” Peter tells her, and is unable to stop himself from adding, “duh.”</p><p>Wanda frowns and shakes her head. </p><p>“No, Peter, I mean—what are you doing <em> here </em>? How are you in this reality?”</p><p>Peter considers this question for a fraction of a moment, before giving a light shrug. </p><p>“I just… am,” Peter says and thinks back to his trip between realities. “You needed me.”</p><p>“Right, but—” Wanda cuts herself off, more confused than she’d been before. “I didn’t pull you here this time.”</p><p>“I know,” Peter nods, and pauses. He looks up at Wanda, and finds that deep inside, the tugging that had been there ever since Peter left Westview has gone away. After all, he’s found what he was reaching for. “Maybe… maybe I was the one who needed you.”</p><p>Wanda’s eyes widen in surprise at Peter’s words, but Peter would prefer not to sit here and chat any longer. He darts around the bottom floor and finds the key to Wanda’s handcuffs in a desk, the third drawer down on the left side. He runs back over to Wanda and kneels in front of her yet again, grabbing her cuffs and working on unlocking it with the key. </p><p>“Better?” Peter asks her as the handcuffs fall away, leaving red marks on Wanda’s wrists. </p><p>“Yes, thank you,” Wanda nods her head, rubbing her left wrist with her right hand. Then, a look of fear flashes across her features. “Peter, the boys?”</p><p>“They’re safe and sound,” Peter assures her, and Wanda visibly relaxes. “They’re with the X-Men; they’ll take care of them.”</p><p>“I knew you would,” Wanda smiles softly, and Peter can see tears forming in the corner of her eye. Before he can tell her not to cry, though, her smile vanishes and her eyes move to look at something behind him. “Peter, <em> look out </em>—!”</p><p>Peter whips around in time to see Hayward standing in the doorway, a gun bigger than Barnes’ in his hands. Hayward fires and a blast of red comes hurtling towards him, but even when Peter speeds up and jumps out of the way, the blast <em> curves,  </em> hitting him in the stomach and sending him crashing into the concrete wall so hard that he leaves a huge dent. Peter’s vision blurs for a moment, but through his haze, he sees Wanda’s eyes start to glow red as she conjures her magic into her hands, and then all Peter can hear is Haywards shout as Wanda hits him with her magic. He’s hit so hard that he goes flying  <em> through  </em>the concrete wall, and Peter thinks that if prison didn’t kill the guy, that had to have done the job. </p><p>“Peter, are you alright?” Wanda frantically asks as Peter hauls himself up into a sitting position. The blast had hurt like a bitch, but he heals fast, and so his vision is already beginning to clear. </p><p>“Yep, yep, I’m great,” Peter groans, taking a moment to sit there and breathe. “What the hell was that?”</p><p>Wanda gives the hole Hayward’s body left a glare. “They were trying to use my magic to power their weapons.”</p><p>Oh, so that’s why the blast had curved to hit him. Wanda’s magic always finds the target it wants to hit, and in that case, it was Peter’s torso. He’s sure this is going to leave a hell of a bruise. </p><p>“Alright,” Peter says as he slowly rises back onto his feet. Right now, he’s not going to let anything keep him down for long—after all, he is the motherfucking Quicksilver. “You ready to get out of here?”</p><p>Wanda nods her head yes. </p><p>“Awesome. Hey, can I carry you up the stairs? It would go faster.”</p><p>Wanda hesitates, but she nods her head yes once more, and Peter wastes no time scooping her into his arms and darting through the bottom floor towards the stairs. He zips up the stairs with the alternate version of his sister in his arms, and his muscles are beginning to ache from the hit he just took, but Peter’s never felt so alive. </p><p>Peter bursts through the door and down the hall where he left Barnes, Wilson, and Parker, and sets Wanda down onto her feet. Wanda, unlike every other single person Peter has brought along for a ride when he runs (besides the twins), doesn’t look queasy or sick at all, like she’s used to it. Of course, Pietro used to do this with Wanda all the time, so maybe Peter shouldn’t be surprised or anything. Still, it’s nice to see someone understand and be used to his power. </p><p>Unlike Peter and Wanda, the Avengers still haven’t managed to take out every single gunman, and so they quickly join the fight, Wanda blasting men into walls, and Peter knocking multiple out in the span of one moment. Soon, there’s none left, and they’re all left standing in the middle of the now-empty warehouse. </p><p>“Sam,” Wanda says when she sees Wilson, her eyebrows raised in surprise. </p><p>“Hey, Wanda,” Wilson smirks, flying down to stand in front of her. “Long time, no see, yeah?”</p><p>“Peter, you went to them?” Wanda tilts her head as she looks at Peter, and Peter’s smile fades away. Is Wanda angry with him? Does she not care for the Avengers anymore?</p><p>“Uh, yeah, I did,” Peter nods slowly, rubbing the back of his head and bracing for impact. “I needed their help to find you.”</p><p>“Oh,” Wanda says, and then, to Peter’s ultimate relief, she smiles, turning back to Wilson. “Thank you.”</p><p>“Always,” Wilson says, adjusting the shield on his back. “Once an Avenger, always an Avenger, right?”</p><p>“Right,” Wanda nods as Parker swings over to them and releases the web, landing next to Wilson and pulling off his mask. </p><p>“Hi, Wanda,” Peter says shyly. Wanda waves in response, but doesn’t get to respond, because Barnes interrupts. </p><p>“Hey, we’ve got fifteen minutes,” Barnes says, walking up to the group with his watch held up in front of his face. “So let’s get moving.”</p><p>“You all heard the man, to the Quinjet,” Wilson announces, and like a leader, begins to lead the group outside.</p><p>“Fifteen minutes?” Wanda’s brows knit together as she and Peter trail behind for a second. </p><p>“Until the frozen yogurt shop closes,” Peter fills her in with a grin. Then, Peter scoops Wanda up yet again and runs past Wilson, Barnes, and Parker, and then he and Wanda are standing inside the jet, watching as the other three run to catch up. Wanda giggles and Peter throws an arm around his sister’s shoulders, wagging his eyebrows as Barnes and Wilson both give him the stink eye. </p><p>Peter’s just glad that, for once, he wasn’t too late. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Peter Parker has always been my favorite MCU character, so he gets thrown into almost every Marvel project I do lol. I just adore him so much, man, and it would have been so cool for him to meet Peter Maximoff on the big screen. Oh well.</p><p>Until next time, thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I realize that Peter being able to run so fast he can end up in a different reality is crazy and likely not canon at all, but for the sake of this fic I'm going with it anyway. </p><p>Let me know what you think, and I'll see you next time!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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